[Significance of intermittent slow waves with right posterior accentuation in the EEG's of psychiatric patients].

The study was based on the frequent occurrence of intermittent slow waves right-posterior accentuation (IRP) in the EEGs of psychiatric patients. With regard to the EEG-phenomenon we present a detailed morphological and functional description as well as an evaluation from a developmental point of view. According to case histories a clinico-psychopathological characterization of the patients with IRP is given. The IRP-phenomenon can be interpreted electrogenetically against the background of and in connection with the so-called slow alpha variant rhythms as well as the posterior slow waves characteristic of children and adolescents. These patterns have in common a certain tendency to right-sided accentuation. In accord with a hypothesis (which has been derived from other observations and considerations) of a "maturation gradient" which favours the left hemisphere, we try to explain the IRP-phenomenon as an expression of a maturation deficit. Whereas the slow alpha variant rhythms and the posterior slow waves characteristic of children and adolescents appear bilaterally for the most part, IRP by definition, limited to the right hemisphere, may be considered as a less pronounced form in comparison. Deriving from clinico-psychopathological assessment the relationships are as follows: Patients with IRP account for about 5% of the in-patients in our psychiatric hospital. The IRP phenomenon seems to be closely linked to the male sex. Although a clear relationship with nosological categories (ICD) could not be proved, it seems that patients suffering from schizophrenic psychoses (ICD No. 295) are more frequently represented among the patients with the IRP-phenomenon than others. For the group of schizophrenic patients with IRP we found in contrast to a control group of schizophrenics without IRP a tendency to earlier onset of their disease. Compared with the control group it is found that the IRP groups consists of younger patients at the time of conducting this study. The two comparative groups of schizophrenics with and without IRP can be characterized by differences in the more or less pronounced manifestation of a fairly large number of AMDP items. Whereas for the IRP group a symptom pattern emerges with a hypermotoric -expansive accentuation, the control group seems to tend more towards a syndrome with depressive shading. The slight tendencies towards increased hereditary disposition as well as towards increased perinatal complications among the schizophrenic IRP patients necessitate further studies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)